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England manager Roy Hodgson confirmed on Tuesday that the 18-year-old left back will be part of his Three Lions squad for the forthcoming FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

The call-up, at the expense of Chelsea and England veteran Ashley Cole, is the climax to a fantastic season for Shaw, who only made his Southampton debut in January 2012, months after leaving Rydens Enterprise School in Hersham.

"Luke is a fantastic young lad with a lovely family and we are all just so incredibly proud of him," she said.

"It was not an easy decision to leave an academic setting, but school and his family made the right decision in encouraging him to focus on his football when he left us. As a teacher there is nothing better than seeing a student you work closely with have a dream and go on to achieve it to the highest level, just as Luke has.

"He is a role model to other students and raised every young person’s aspirations. I always knew he would be a success, but I do laugh at the number of times I must have said 'remember, you can’t just rely on your football, Luke'. Well, now he can."

Luke Shaw makes his England debut (Photo: Action Images/Carl Recine)

Afterwards, she added: "From the point of view of the school, there’s nothing better than watching one of the students realise their potential.

"There was a shared feeling of sheer joy and pride watching Luke line up to sing the national anthem in his England kit at Wembley Stadium and then even more exciting seeing him leave the bench at the end of the first half to warm up.

"We knew he was coming on and we would get to see him play."

His first Southampton start came in August 2012 in a 4-1 win over Stevenage in the first round of the Capital One Cup.

Then in October that year, he came off the bench to replace Danny Fox to make his Premier League debut in a 2-0 defeat at West Bromwich Albion, before starting his first top-flight game a few days later at home to Swansea.

Since then he has gone on to hold down the left-back position for Southampton and was called up for the UEFA European U21 Championship last summer.